Love Fortunes
by The Essential Word
Summary: Alicia may be a fortune-teller, but there are certain things even she can't fortell, especially when it involves love. One-shot. For a contest.


Alicia sat on the docks with a lunch basket by her side. That morning she had packed a sandwich and a bit of wine. She had been told her fortunes were just so much more interesting when she drank.

The hot day caused sweat to form on her brow. Idly she fanned herself cool with her hat and wondered if she would get any costumers today.

Probably not. Few people ever came, as her mother was so quick to point out. If they did, they were usually preparing to travel out of town and wanted to know the weather. Weather was such a boring, dreary topic…Why wasn't anyone ever curious to know their love fortune? They could know their soul mate's sweet name and yet they'd rather know whether it'd rain on some incredibly mundane day in their mundane lives. Where was their sense of _romance _and_ fun_? Everyone was so caught up in the business of the here-and-now that they never took the time to simply dream.

Her mother was the worst offender of all.

"This fortune-telling was cute when you were twelve, Alicia, but you're a grown woman now and it seems your only goal in life is to run around in a hat bigger than the shirt you wear! And what is with your clothes? Are you a prostitute from the capital? Do prostitutes even wear so little?"

As usual shouting ensued and Ray had to step in to restore any sort of civility.

Her thoughts were broken by a gentle tap on her shoulder. She immediately jumped up and dusted herself off. "Kyle! You've arrived just in time for discount."

He looked at her suspiciously. "Huh? Discount? Since when did you give discounts?"

"Since I fell completely and utterly in love with you," she said with a grin.

"…Ugh, you want something, don't you?" He said. "If you need anything, just do what everyone else does and post a request on the board. I swear, they just need to go ahead and name it 'the board of useless crap we need Kyle to do'…"

"Of course, Kyle. It's a tradition to use the board specifically to make the village amnesiac do our chores."

"That's what I suspected."

"I was being facetious. Anyway, I don't need a thing today, dear. Besides, you're the one who approached me. I can't help if my great beauty draws people to me like flies to honey."

"Then how come your total number of daily costumers is…uh, just me?"

She looked utterly offended. "Because—What do you want, Kyle?"

He laughed. "I was hoping to get a fortune." She rolled her eyes and sighed. "Sims sala sim random words I made up alakazam," she said in monotone, her heart not really into the act. "It's going to be sunny tomorrow. The day following it will rain. Now that will be ten gold since I'm feeling generous." She held out her hat for him to drop the money in.

"Actually…" He paused, looking flustered, before he continued. "I wanted another kind of fortune..."

"Hold on! I still want ten gold! It's a discount, not a freebie!"

"But—but I didn't even ask for a weather reading."

"Oh, but you were going to! I'm a fortune-teller, duh. I can see the future. And I knew you what you were going to ask before you knew it yourself!"

"But—"

"Don't try to deny it!" She waved the hat around.

"No, seriously—"

"Talk later, money first!"

With a defeated sigh he dropped the coins in. "You're a selfish person. Between you and Yue, I'll be broke by the end of the season."

She smiled, satisfied with the jingle of coins and set the hat aside. "I guess that's what you get for surrounding yourself with selfish women."

"No. It's honestly just you and Yue."

She looked slightly annoyed. "You really are a _charmer_, aren't you? Know just what to say to a woman."

He laughed lightly and patted her on the shoulder. "Well, is being smooth and handsome such a crime?"

A smile cracked on her face before changing the topic. "Earlier you said you had a problem." She sat on the edge of the dock and patted the spot beside her. "You might as well sit down and tell me what it is."

He slid next to her. A silence followed and for a moment all that could be heard were the waves.

Finally, he said, "This is kind of embarrassing but…"

"If this is some sort of male problem, you really should talk to my brother."

"No!" he said, holding his hands up defensively. "I just want a love reading."

She raised an eyebrow. "Say it isn't so! Are you in love? So who's the lucky girl? Or did you decide to give Barrett a go?"

"Yes—I mean, what?" He looked momentarily perplexed.

"Not even Jake? Foes do make the best—"

She was interrupted by gagging sounds.

"Just checking." She sat back a bit. "In order for the reading to work, you're going to have to tell me some details."

"Details? You mean like your gossip sessions with Manna?"

"It's not gossip if it's for fortune-telling. Anyway, on the honor of my profession, I promise not to tell anyone."

"Not even if Manna begs?"

She shook her head. "Nope."

"How about if an orc threatens to kill you if you don't tell?"

"Still won't."

"…or Rosalind offers you ten-thousand gold?"

She didn't reply, but she had a dreamy look on her face.

"Er…Alicia?" He waved his hand in front of her. "Helllooo?"

"Uh… of course I would say no. What sort of person do you take me for?"

He rolled his eyes, but smiled. "Do you think I don't know you? All I have to do is wave a gold coin in your face and suddenly it's over. Anyway, it doesn't matter. I don't care who you tell, so long as you listen and then give me my fortune."

She eyed him curiously. "All right."

"Okay…" he breathed, as if gearing up for a too-long story. "There's this girl. A very beautiful girl and I think I really like her." He gazed off into the distance, leaving her to stare at his profile. "And a lot of times I find myself actually rushing through work just to see her. I'm a farmer, so I shouldn't do that sort of thing. People depend on me. I should be a hard, tough worker. But still I do it because I just love to see her smile. More than anything else, it's my reward for a long day's work."

She stared at him, not sure what to say.

He looked at her sheepishly. Then he caught himself laughing. "It's probably the cheesiest thing you ever heard."

"Just a little," she said, but she was absolutely enthralled by what he had said. "But it's romantic."

"Now can I have that love reading?" He looked at her. "Or is your magic not working now?"

"You're going to have to give me a second to—um—get my magic working."

"Come on. You can tell me how this girl feels about me, can't you? Or have the mighty powers of Alicia failed you?" He smiled.

For some reason, she felt a tightness in her chest, but she dismissed it quickly as being nothing.

His smile fell when he saw her expression. "I didn't mean anything by it," he said quickly. "You're a good fortune-teller--"

She waved her hands to stop him. "No, no. It has nothing to do with that." It was something else entirely…no, no, it was but a passing feeling, she thought. "Now, let me think for a moment…"

She had a standard stock of love fortunes she used for everyone. Of course, 'everyone' really meant 'no one' as few people were interested. It was always 'Alicia, tell me the weather' or something practical like that.

She tried to remember one of the fortunes she had dreamed up on a rainy day. She couldn't really read minds or tell how someone felt for another, but she could fake it with the best and having people actually believe her was entertaining. Kyle waited attentively.

"Having to recharge your magic?" He said teasingly.

She gave him a crooked smile. "The nature of my magic is a mystery beyond your understanding. And no, it doesn't recharge like one of those batteries in the city." She rubbed her temples and began to chant gibberish. "Sim sala sim--"

"How long did it take you to make those words up?"

"Ssh!" She held up a finger. "Do not interrupt the magic or your fortune might end up faulty."

"Yes ma'am," he said, still watching her with a smile.

"The girl you love is thinking of you right now. She's sitting by a window, watching the rain, her beautiful dress spread all around her."

"…ah, rain? Where?" He looked up into the sky.

"Poetic license, Kyle!" She closed her eyes so as to seem to be caught up in the moment. It was a trick she learned to make her fortunes seem more legitimate. "Anyway, she's sitting by the window right now, thinking of you. She thinks of your beautiful cherub face with its soft lips and skin…"

"Uh, that's nice, I think."

"…your eyes the color of the earth…"

"eeeeh?"

"…your strong abs honed from hours of work on the farm."

"Whaaaa--?"

"...Creamy skin like shining marble..."

"Are you calling me a rock?

"…your bulging biceps…"

"Buh?"

"…your great brown mane glistening in the sun…"

"We're talking about my hair, right?"

"And how it would feel to--"

"Woah now!!"

"I was just going to say how it would feel to eat dinner at your house in broad daylight! With a chaperone!"

He gave her a blank stare. "…that wasn't what you were going to say."

"No, it wasn't. I can't help if my fortune-telling powers reveal things beyond what any mortal should know. It's the price we magically-gifted people must pay for our great knowledge."

"Knowing everyone's dirty thoughts? That's just sick."

"As I was saying," she said, doing her best to ignore him. Since most of her fortunes were pre-created she only had to insert names and details that fit the person asking for the fortune. Some of those fortunes she came up with while having girly daydreams on boring rainy days after reading too many romance novels. This was one of those horrifying creations.

Alicia shot a side-long glance at Kyle. "The fact of the matter is she's thinking about you. She always thinks of you. Every time you visit her, you make her whole day." At this point she seemed to be in reverie as she stared out into the ocean and kicked her feet. "She loves you."

"Does she?" He said, interested.

"Oh yes. Yes, she does." She wasn't telling a fortune anymore. Suddenly she realized how real the words were. She was talking about herself. She tried to hide her blush behind her hand. "So, yes, there's your answer."

They didn't say anything for a long moment.

"I really love her, too," he said. "A lot, I think."

"Th--that's very good." There was that pain in her chest again, this time twice as sharp. This girl--who was it? She hated the mere thought.

He coughed uncomfortably. "Ah, yeah. That's some interesting stuff there." He stood up and brushed himself off. "Thank you."

"It's just business," she mumbled. "I'll see you tomorrow, Kyle."

"I'll be sure to come by."

Later that day she was suspicious of every girl she saw. Who was the girl? Manna? Ceci? No, Kyle only occasionally talked to those two, and Douglas put a quick stop to any sort of what he called "romantic shenanigans" going on between the him and Manna. Manna would die a depressed spinster, she was sure.

It could have been Yue. Alicia had seen for herself how the usually tight-fisted, frugal merchant gave him discounts…then she remembered what Yue had told her last week. It was something along the lines of "Kyle's cute but I'm not really interested in marriage. The idea of having to share my profits…it's horrifying! Flirting with him sure is fun, though." So it couldn't be Yue.

Rosalind was most likely the one. Often Alicia saw Kyle talking to her, going on picnics with her, bringing her gifts. Even Max was half-convinced the two of them were practically married. He would pseudo-jokingly call them Mrs. and Mr. Farmer.

For the first time she was acutely aware of how delicately pretty Rosalind was. Everything about her was perfect, right down to her outfits. She even had a peculiar but perfectly pretty voice.

Most importantly, however, she was rich, something she would always have over Alicia. Sure, her mother made decent money as a doctor, but their wealth could not begin to ever compare to Rosalind's riches.

Damn pretty rich girls.

She felt somewhat gloomy for the rest of the day. She supposed she was so used to Kyle simply being there for her that she had never really thought of him going with someone else. Now it really seemed like a possibility. Why would he do that? Why would he go to her of all people about his love life? Didn't he know it was a bad idea to broach your lady-friends on such a subject, especially lady-friends who just so happen to might perhaps have a little crush on you?

He was so dense.

The next day Kyle visited her on the pier again.

"I want to talk to you about your love fortune yesterday," she declared as she straightened her pointy hat.

"Oh?" He had a curious look.

"I've been wondering who the girl is."

"Don't your magical powers give you insight into that?"

"It has its limits…"

"Suuure."

"Just tell me!"

"Well, she's beautiful and talented and gorgeous. Not that she doesn't already know that."

She gave him a hurt look. "I bet she is…"

"And she's one of the most fun people to be around. Never a boring moment."

"That's…wonderful," she said through clenched teeth. "I hope you two have the time of your life. I sense the two of you will have beautiful babies and live happily ever after until you both die of old age."

Suddenly he began laughing.

She shot him a glare. "What?"

"Are you blind." He grabbed hold of her hands and stared into her eyes. "Alicia, the girl is you."

The revelation took a moment to sink in. A slow blush crept onto her cheeks. "Kyle…I…don't know what to--"

"Look, if you don't like me like that, just tell me and I'll never mention it again. But if you do love me back, then I'll be a really happy man."

"Kyle, don't be silly. Ever since you mentioned that girl, I've been driving myself crazy thinking of who it could be. To have it be me…" She smiled. "Yes, Kyle, I think I like you too."

The moment he embraced her, Ray walked upon them.

"Oh, hi, Kyle!" he said with a little wave before stopping dead in his tracks. "Oh, I, uh, see what you're doing to my sister. That's-er, wow. I thought you were busy with farming, not…Well, just don't be late for dinner, Alicia! Mom wants you."

Alicia brushed him off. "Just give us a second Ray, will you?"

He looked panicked. "But-uh-mom really wants me to get you home…"

"Ray! One second!" She snapped. He watched the ensuing kiss.

"Okay. I'll just…stare at this wall really intently. I am staring at the wall…could you guys stop? I can hear you." He waited a moment. "Not stopping? Still going? Wow." He stared at the wall. Noises that made him uncomfortable came from the lovers.

He counted the bricks in said wall. Noises ensued. There were sixteen bricks. Seventeen, eighteen, more noises…nineteen…noises…twenty…noises…nooooiiises… "OH MY GODS THAT'S MY SISTER!"

He turned around furiously, no longer able to take it. "Don't do that in front of me. It's gross. How would you feel if I did that to your sister? It would cause severe emotional trauma. I'm traumatized right now! My hair is turning grey! I'm going to have a twitch in my eye tomorrow!"

"Sorry. I think we just lost ourselves," Kyle said shook his head.

"You don't do that to your friends' sisters. It's almost an unwritten law of manly friendship!"

Alicia made a face as she went over to Ray. "Please, you barely count as a man. Besides, I can't help I'm just simply so gorgeous all the boys can't keep their--"

"For the love of the gods, do not finish that sentence or you will have to bury me. I am already going to have to find a way to get the image of you and Kyle out of my mind. They have lobotomies for this kind of thing in the city…"

"Come on, Ray. Didn't you say we have to go home? It's not like you haven't already ruined my beautiful moment." She grabbed him by the arm and began to pull him away.

Kyle waved, smiling broadly. "I'll see you tomorrow, Alicia! Alone!"

She blew him a kiss. When Kyle was out of sight, she mumbled, "It's funny how blind people can be…"

Ray looked at her strangely. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing. Just talking to myself."

X

Done. Just my little entry to the first ever Rune Factory contest. Go check it out. You can vote for me or someone else at this URL .net/forum/Rune_Haven/55704/. Just look around a little until you find the right topic.

Please note that if there are any formatting issues in this story, it has to do with the word processor I'm using. I had to manually seperate paragraphs by hand at least four times.


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